Over the past five years of RVI’s South Sudan Customary Authorities (SSCA) project, the Institute has built a strong level of trust with customary authorities across the country. Continued engagement with chiefs is essential, particularly in finding ways to…
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The Somali Dialogue Platform (the ‘Platform’) is a multi-year programme funded by the FCDO, USAID, BUILD and DANIDA. The Somali Dialogue Platform provides a neutral space for political dialogue on contentious issues in Somalia’s political settlement, such as…
Applications are invited from eligible candidates for a doctoral studentship on the history of constitution-making in Sudan since the 1950s. The doctorate will be supervised by Justin Willis (Durham University) and Willow Berridge (Newcastle University). This funded doctoral…
By Mimi Kuer Bior In April 2020, when COVID-19 reached South Sudan, many of RVI’s South Sudanese researchers decided to return to their hometowns to avoid what they believed would be a large outbreak in the country’s capital,…
The Rift Valley Institute is seeking a highly experienced and dynamic educator to design and manage a professional development programme for early career researchers in eastern and central Africa. The position will be based in one of the countries…
Serving as a creative hub for ideas designed to strengthen inclusive global governance, the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs was established in 2014, adding the capacity to develop a new generation of leaders to Chatham…
The Rift Valley Institute works in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage (MoCMNH) on the preservation and digitization of the South Sudan National Archives (SSNA). Under the current project, funded by the Government of…
This article was written by Ahmed Musa, Jethro Norman, Mark Bradbury, Mohamed Aden Hassan and Nauja Kleist. The authors are part of the Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum) research programme, a consortium made up of the Danish Institute…
The Rift Valley Institute works in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage (MoCMNH) on the preservation and digitization of the South Sudan National Archives. Under the current project, funded by the Government of…
In collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage, is sharing selected, approved documents from the South Sudan National Archives through social media channels to showcase the range of information available in the collection. This project is…
Recent Publications

Writing Ethiopia into the World, Writing the World from Ethiopia
October 7, 2026
The Ethiopian Women Researchers Network (EWNET) hosted an online scholarly webinar on Friday, 30 January 2026, titled ‘Writing Ethiopia into the World and Writing the World from Ethiopia’. The webinar examined how Ethiopia has been represented within global knowledge production

The Political Economy of Coffee in the Kaffa–Bench-Sheko–Sheka Belt, Southwest Ethiopia Region
October 6, 2026
This study provides a critical political economy analysis of the coffee sector in the Kaffa–Bench-Sheko–Sheka belt in Southwest Ethiopia Peoples’ Regional State, the genetic and cultural heartland of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica). Based on 47 key respondent interviews, the study

The Political Economy of Coffee in the Jimma–Ilu Aba Bora–Buno Bedele Belt, Oromia Region
October 5, 2026
The findings of this study reveal a number of critical insights about the political economy of coffee in the Jimma–Ilu Aba Bora–Buno Bedele coffee belt. The coffee economy is shaped by a small number of influential actors, including state institutions,